


Victory Children

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Drabble Collection, Ficlet Collection, M/M, Not Leia Organa Friendly, Tumblr fill
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2019-11-14 17:24:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18056864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: A collection of every Darkpilot prompt fic I’ve written.





	1. First Kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jessa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessa/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A night on Yavin becomes more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Jessa prompted me the two having their first kiss, any universe. I made them both pilots here, as pilot Ben is one of my favorite tropes.

The first time that they kiss, it’s under Yavin’s Force tree when Poe takes him there on one of their moments of shoreleave. It’s one of those moments, Ben thinks, where he swears that he can practically feel the Force humming around him. It’s so peaceful out there, so quiet. He has to admire how calm it is. Most of being a pilot is just so…noisy. So much chaos, not enough tranquility.

It’s all beautiful, it really is.

“Feel anything?” Poe says.

Ben merely nods. “The Force. It’s beautiful here, it really is.”

“I can’t feel it, but I’ll take your word for it. What’s it like?”

“It’s very peaceful. Calm.” There’s only the sound of distant bugs chirping to really interrupt their talking. Ben can’t say he minds it. It’s not too much noise. “Not something I’m used to. Being out in nature with someone so beautiful…”

Poe laughed; it sounded so light, so buoyant when he did that. Ben wished that he could do something like that. Then, “I’d say the same about you.”

Silence.

“You’re so beautiful,” Poe says. “Incredible, Ben…”

Ben can’t help but feel amazed that Poe’s even talking like this. Their lips are close, and when they bridge the gap, it’s more than worth it.


	2. Kidnapped!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe is kidnapped in a move that has nothing to do with Kylo. Kylo doesn’t take it well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: For spottedfieldsofdaisies on Tumblr who sadly does not seem to have an AO3 account, who prompted Poe being kidnapped and Ben/Kylo angsting about it. I definitely hope it works!

He still has his ring necklace, and that’s the only thing that Kylo has to go on.

Even looking over it — aside from the thoughts of who exactly Poe was saving it for, and the jealousy that can’t help but arise there — Kylo can’t help but feel like he’s been hollowed out. He’s angry too, of course — how dare anyone get to Poe before he does? Poe was his enemy — no one else could have him. No one else could dare try and hurt him —

His enemy.

It wasn’t always like that, of course, and it didn’t have to be. If he’d never left him behind when he’d ultimately left Yavin…well, they could have been a force of nature, together, they truly could have. They could have been, truly, free.

But Ben Solo had had to be “noble”. Trying to save Poe. Trying to protect him. Going to Snoke would have no doubt broken him and yet — and yet —

He could have afforded to be selfish. Could have. And yet the idea of snuffing out Poe’s Light was something he could never do.

Poe is out there. Kylo knows this. And even amidst the feeling of being hollowed out is more than anger, but a certainty in his purpose that he feels in battle and otherwise. He will get to Poe. Even if it means destroying everything in his way.

***

He prepares for it at dawn. He has his mask on. The mask is different from his more avian one that he destroyed — it’s more like a beast’s, especially the snout of it. And even as he heads off, Poe’s necklace in hand, he doesn’t care whether it’s the pull of the Light or not.

He only knows he’ll do anything to save Poe, right here, right now.


	3. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For this prompt by the awesome spottedfieldsofdaisies: 
> 
> “A very young Poe and Ben have a sleepover (Han and Leia came to visit Shara and Kes and brought Ben along with them), but during the middle of the night Ben has a nightmare (Caused by Snoke of course) and this wakes both boys up. Ben is too scared to go back to sleep, so Poe comforts him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Warning for Snoke being himself, and nightmares. Don’t know how fluffy this turned out, but I hope it’s enjoyable nonetheless!

Ben’s scream woke them both up at the same time, and when Poe checked, Ben was huddled in his sleeping bag crying, much to Poe’s distress. It hurt to see Ben that way, it really did, and it was Poe who said, “Um…are you okay?”

Ben shook his head. “I’m s-scared. I had a nightmare.”

He looked over at Poe with his tear-stained face and wide eyes, and Poe wished that he wasn’t only seven, that he knew what to do.

Poe paused. What was he supposed to do in that situation? After all, he was only seven, and Ben was only four, and being a Big Kid didn’t necessarily mean you had the answers on everything. He wished that Mama and Papa were awake in that moment; they could help. Grown-ups always knew what to do.

But it was just him and Ben, alone with each other, and Ben just looked so sad. His lip quivering, his eyes almost like a kath hound pup’s.

“I’m scared,” Ben said. “I don’t wanna go back to sleep. The Nightmare Man will get me.”

“I won’t let him,” Poe said.

Ben looked at him, curiously.

“If he tries, I’ll send my X-wings after him!“ Poe said. He couldn’t help but grin all the while, and slowly, Ben cracked a smile. It was reassuring to see, at least, from the four year old — knowing that he was happy. Knowing that he was safe.

“Yeah!” Ben said. “And we can fight him off together. We could be pilots!”

“We could!” Even the idea of flying with Ben, flying by his side, was enough to make Poe wish it was real, and not just the games of X-wing Pilots that they played.

“We’d be the best!”

The two boys paused; somehow the very idea was just too wonderful. Maybe Poe could teach Ben to fly, like Poe’s mother had done for him.

“Poe,” Ben said, “I don’t wanna sleep alone…”

“I got you.”

Ben snuggled up next to him holding his stuffed tooka doll, and Poe let him. It was one of many moments from his childhood where he knew that he’d do anything for Ben Solo. Anything.


	4. Clothing Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An outfit change of Poe’s stirs up...certain feelings and memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: For spottedfieldsofdaisies, who prompted the following: 
> 
> “Kylo’s reaction to Poe’s fabulous new outfit.”
> 
> This actually turned out pretty angsty, but I hope it still works.

He’s beautiful. He’s always been beautiful, but even hovering over the WANTED holo that features Poe (for the first time in what seems like too long), the clothes he wears only accentuate it, in Kylo’s opinion. 

He looks like a leader, but he’s still the Poe Dameron that Kylo left behind. Somewhere. Something about his eyes, something about the way he stands — there’s remnants of the Poe that Kylo abandoned (for his own good, naturally), if traces. They’re all older now, with the war all but engraved in their bones, but there’s fading reminders of who they were, somewhere inside.

Kylo’s drawn to the scarf around Poe’s neck, dark and silky-looking. He knows that it’s hiding something, carefully hiding Poe’s mother’s ring. He can remember asking what the ring was for.

_“What? You mean, who?” Poe smiled at him. “Well, I was thinking of…settling down at some point. Finding the right partner, maybe starting a family.”_

_“Settling.” Ben looked at him, critically. “I never thought you’d settle down.”_

_“At some point, maybe,” Poe said. “I just…haven’t found the right person. There hasn’t really been a…spark, y’know? I’m starting to think I’m bad at this whole finding-a-partner thing.”_

_Ben swallowed. Poe probably thought of him as just a kid — even though he was eighteen, hardly a child. Maybe Poe still thought of him as the same, vulnerable little boy he first met on Yavin._

_“You’ll find someone,” he said. And despite himself, he was half-glad Poe couldn’t read minds. It would destroy everything if Poe knew._

_Poe would likely run away._

Of course he’s running away now, Kylo thinks. Running away from him — not like the scavenger did; it hurts worse, because once upon a time, he loved Poe.

No. He can’t think of that. Not now. Ben Solo is dead, long live the Supreme Leader. He needs to extinguish that. All of it.

He looks at the rest. Pale shirt, tan pants. He rotates the image on the WANTED holo with his finger. The stories say he has no heart — having no heart would make things easier, really. Kylo does have a heart, and despite itself, it’s speeding up seeing Poe like this.

He’s beautiful, and Kylo, as always, is doomed.


	5. The Salt Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo finds Poe half-dead in a salt mine. It doesn’t go well...for Hux.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: For super-secret-and-shy on Tumblr, who requested this! Warning for violence and major character death.

Of all the things that Kylo Ren expected, finding Poe Dameron half-dead in a salt mine wasn’t one of them. Even looking at him, his lips cracked and bleeding, his eyes closed, Kylo Ren couldn’t help but feel like whoever had dragged him here — probably Resistance vermin, to borrow an expression from his deceased former Master Snoke — had damaged something precious, something invaluable. 

He’d done it before, of course. It didn’t dilute the anger and dismay rising in him just looking over Poe.

He fumbled around in his pack. Obviously, he wasn’t a medic. But Poe needed water, and he was going to give it to him. He let the droplets of water from the water bottle he found drop between Poe’s open lips, and eventually, Poe stirred. His eyes opened, and it was like a whole mixture of expressions came across his face — astonishment, hatred, relief, confusion…adoration? Surely Kylo was hallucinating the last one — before he said, “Ben?”

Kylo has to suppress a wince. “Ben’s dead,” he said. “If you’re referring to Kylo Ren, he’s very much here.”

“I’m gonna pretend that even remotely made sense.” Poe said. “Did you send me here?”

“Does it look like something I would do?” Kylo said. “If I wanted to kill you, I would have used my lightsaber.”

“I suppose.”

“What exactly happened?” Kylo said.

“Hux…sent me there. Maybe it’s not your style, but he works for you.”

Kylo could have sworn that his anger became almost a supernova behind his eyes. _How dare he? A treasure like Poe Dameron…_

He was grateful, at least, that Poe couldn’t read minds. He wasn’t ready for Poe to discover that secret about him. He wasn’t ready to reveal a part of himself that should have stayed dead with Ben Solo.

“Don’t worry,” Kylo said. “Hux will be…dealt with soon enough.”

***

It was getting Poe to his new ship, the Legacy Child (put in place after the rather disastrous fate of the Supremacy) that Poe said, “Why do you even care? You ripped my mind apart like it was…nothing.” He sounded like he was about to cry.

“Don’t cry,” Kylo said. “You’re going to dehydrate yourself.” _And besides, I don’t like it._ He had seen Poe’s tears in the interrogation room, and they had been far from lovely.

“Why did you do that to me?” Poe finally said.

“I wanted to get to Luke Skywalker.” _To get revenge on him. Even at the cost of you._

“And some closure you got,” Poe said. “Why do you hate Luke Skywalker?”

“You really don’t know? He tried to kill me.”

Poe actually looked taken aback.

“The girl never told you? Maybe she was trying to protect you. Never speak ill of the dead, after all. You can ask her; I’m sure she’d be willing to tell you.”

“You never had this much of a mean streak, Ben.”

“I learned.” _All without you, suffering without you._

***

It was catching up with Hux that Kylo wasted no time. He practically yanked the General towards him with the Force, hand around his throat. “Why did you do what you did to Poe Dameron?”

“He…humiliated me,” Hux said. “It was something, seeing him beg and plead after a while. Nothing like the pilot who had the nerve to insult me…”

“You really are pathetic,” Kylo said. “Truly. All over an insult?” Truthfully, he had found Poe Dameron’s…stunt during the evacuation of D’Qar with Hux actually quite humorous.

“How touching,” Hux sneered. “You actually…feel something for him, Ren?”

Kylo could practically hear Snoke’s voice in his mind. _Was it true love? Really, Ben Solo? True love has no place in the First Order._ And he didn’t hesitate.

He released Hux. Then he took his lightsaber and swung through Hux’s neck.

The roll of a head was actually quite satisfying.

***

It was in medbay that Kylo visited Poe, who had emerged from being supplied with water. Food too. Kylo was the one who spoke. “Hux has been dealt with. He won’t hurt you again.”

“Did you kill him?” Poe said. He sounded, truly, conflicted about the whole idea. Of course he did. He was Poe Dameron, a man who could hold the whole galaxy in his heart.

“He deserved it,” Kylo said. “No one hurts you but me.”

“Encouraging,” Poe said, sarcastically. Kylo couldn’t help but be relieved. Let Poe think that, anything but softer, gentler feelings.

Anything but the fact that Kylo loved him to the point he feared Poe’s Light would burn him. Even the scavenger’s hadn’t been this powerful.

“Thank you, I guess,” Poe said. “For saving me.”

Kylo swallowed. He hadn’t been thanked by Poe in, what, eleven years?

“You’re welcome,” he said, almost awkwardly, and he hoped, once Poe got off the Legacy Child, some sort of normalcy would resume.


	6. Protective (And Hypocritical) Kylo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kylo gives Leia an earful for how she treated Poe. A First-Order-wins ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Warning: This is not Leia friendly at all. Seriously, I hate this abomination calling herself Leia in TLJ. She’s a selfish, abusive, hypocritical female stereotype who bears zero relation to the Leia of the OT — or hell, even TFA Leia. 
> 
> For super-secret-and-shy — sorry it took so long. And yes, I know Kylo’s a hypocrite in this fill.

“What gave you the right to slap Poe Dameron?”

His mother — the utter nerve of her! — actually had the gall to look surprised. “How do you know that?”

“I know absolutely everything I need to know about you,” Kylo said. “And I know you’re no better than Snoke and what he did to me. Do you know what he did to me? Did you take pleasure in it?”

This time, General Organa actually looked abashed. Kylo kept going. Social norms said that good boys didn’t talk back to their mothers, but Kylo Ren was not a good boy, not by any means. He’d stopped being a good boy long ago. “You’re no different from Snoke. You honed in on a young, vulnerable child who lost his mother to mold him in your image. You physically abused him. You forced him into a role he didn’t even want in the first place. Did you know he didn’t want to fight me? To kill me?”

General Organa actually looked genuinely injured. Good. Maybe the old scow actually did have a heart inside of that withered husk. Then, “There’s nothing left of you, Ben.”

“I’d rather be Supreme Leader of the First Order than an abusive, selfish, hypocritical scow.”

“Military discipline isn’t abuse.”

“No. But I’m sure physical assault is.”

“You tortured him.” General Organa said.

This time, Kylo couldn’t find a word to defend himself. He remembered how Snoke had taunted him about the torture. Asking him if his hesitation was true love, really. “No one hurts him but me, General,” he said. “And if I recall correctly, you gave out awards to Luke Skywalker and Han Solo for contributing to mass murder. How many on the first Death Star might have been prisoners like you were? Or had families?” A beat. “You’re selfish, truly. In every way. And you’ve lost. How does it feel?”

He left in that moment. He could feel her anger in the Force, the woundedness beneath, and yet, after a year of being Supreme Leader, Kylo didn’t care. Long ago, he hesitated to fire on her out of a belief that she cared about him. (He couldn’t be more wrong) And even realizing that she had physically assaulted Poe, slapped and humiliated him…

It shouldn’t have gotten under his skin.

It did.

It shouldn’t have even occurred to him, given that he had broken into Poe’s mind. Destroying his mind and his heart in one fell swoop. But in the end, he supposed, he still loved Poe more than anyone else could ever possibly know.

He had to keep it locked away. Safe. Even from the scavenger. But he could keep a piece of it close to his heart, no matter what.


End file.
